ARTICLES ABOUT RAJ BHAVAN BY DATE - PAGE 2

MATHURA: Bihar Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi today said here that presenting legislators in Rashtrapati Bhavan is a "wasteful exercise" and does no good, days after JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar paraded about 130 MLAs in Delhi and met President Pranab Mukherjee . "The majority can only be tested in the House. Presenting legislators in Raj Bhavan or Rashtrapati Bhavan is a wasteful exercise as it may be a pressure tactics but it does no good," Tripathi told reporters. "Since Bihar Cabinet has already fixed Assembly session from February 20, therefore I had also fixed the same date for deciding the majority.

PATNA: JD(U) on Monday expelled Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi even as he remained defiant and hopeful of staying in the chair with the support of BJP, while the party's nominee and former CM Nitish Kumar met Governor KN Tripathi along with the allies and urged him to break the impasse soon. Tripathi also met Manjhi and assembly Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary separately for ascertaining their views before coming to any conclusion. "We called on the governor to apprise him of the current political situation.

PATNA: Beleaguered Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today met Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and said Nitish Kumar's election as the new JD(U)LP leader was "unconstitutional" and exuded confidence that he would prove his majority on the floor of the House. Manjhi met the Governor minutes after Kumar left Raj Bhavan after staking claim to form the government. "I told the Governor that I can prove majority on the floor of the House whenever he asks me," Manjhi told reporters emerging from Raj Bhavan after a nearly 45-minute-long meeting.

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra has directed removal of all government officials from the sports associations in the state, who have not got prior permission to act as office bearers of these bodies. The Governor has directed the General Administration Department (GAD) to ensure that no Government servant is allowed to continue as an office bearer in any sports body without the state government's prior permission, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said here.

JAMMU: PDP and BJP may be heading towards forming a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir with leaders of both the parties apprising Governor N N Vohra separately about progress in their talks even as they prepared for a tie-up in the coming Rajya Sabha elections. PDP MLA Haseeb Drabu, the interlocutor with the BJP on talks for government formation, met the Governor who earlier received a BJP delegation headed by party's General Secretary Ram Madhav , the party pointsman in the state.

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam today divested Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments portfolio held by ailing Minister P Chendur Pandian and allocated it to Minister for Food R Kamaraj. Chendur Pandian will, however, continue to be a minister in the Panneerselvam Ministry, a communique from Raj Bhavan said. Pandian is undergoing treatment since January 12 in a private hospital.

HYDERABAD: Unidentified persons hacked the EPABX telephone system at the Raj Bhavan (the office of Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, ESL Narasimhan ) and "misused" it, the authorities today said. The misuse was detected by the BSNL last week, following which the Raj Bhavan officials filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police Station here. An amount of Rs 38,233 was billed due to this unauthorised use and it was being recovered from the system vendor, a statement from Raj Bhavan said.

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra today said the state was facing grave financial crisis and sought urgent help from the Centre to enable the government to tide over the situation. A Raj Bhavan spokesperson said that consequent to holding several rounds of personal discussions with the State Planning and Finance Secretaries, and consultations with the Chief Secretary, the Governor has addressed a communication to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley regarding the financial crisis the state was facing.

AIZAWL: Aziz Qureshi was today sworn in as the Governor of Mizoram at the Durbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan here. Justice Michael Zothankhuma , Judge of the Gauhati High Court, administered the oath of office to Qureshi. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by the state Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla , some of his cabinet colleagues, Speaker Hiphei, parliamentary secretaries, legislators and top officials. Qureshi, transferred from Uttarakhand, was appointed as the Mizoram Governor on December 30 by the Centre.

SHILLONG: West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was sworn in as Meghalaya Governor at the Raj Bhavan here today. Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice Uma Nath Singh administered the oath of office and secrecy to Tripathi at the century-old Raj Bhavan which was attended by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma , his cabinet colleagues and senior civil and police officials. Tripathi became the 19th Governor of this hill state, succeeding Krishan Kant Paul , who was transferred to Uttarakhand as the Governor of that state.